Exploring Thessaloniki: The Evolution and Impact of Urban Public Spaces and Green Areas

Abstract

Thessaloniki, a bustling and lively city, faces the challenge of limited public and green spaces amidst its dense urban fabric. Compared to European standards, Thessaloniki has one of the lowest ratios of green space per resident, with only 2.6 m² per inhabitant (Latinopoulos et al. 2016:132). On average, some 40 % of the surface area of European cities is made up of urban green infrastructure, with around 18.2 m2 of publicly accessible green space per inhabitant; 44 % of Europe‘s urban population lives within 300 m of a public park (European Commission n.d). This suggests that prior policies and initiatives aimed at tackling this problem have faced significant hurdles and have not yet produced substantial outcomes (cf. Karagianni 2023). The scarcity of green spaces is further exacerbated by the city‘s high residential densities (COT 2017). These circumstances highlight the pressing need for effective interventions and strategies to enhance the availability and accessibility of public and green spaces in Thessaloniki. This text primarily focuses on the western part of Thessaloniki for the analysis of visibility, characteristics/typologies, impact on surroundings, challenges, and solutions & measures of green spaces. Therefore, this text gives an overview of the accessibility of green spaces; some are more hidden as they are small and not in prominent locations, whilst others are very visible due to their size and location. Further, different typologies of green spaces could be defined in the study area due to their different characteristics; these include squares & parks, pathway greenery, tree lines, school courtyards, sports areas, and open non-designed spaces. Each green space brings a potential to enhance its surroundings socially, environmentally, and economically. Finally, some solutions and measures are formulated to combat the challenges the green spaces of Thessaloniki face. By narrowing the scope to this specific area, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and issues related to public and green spaces in this particular region of the city.